Golf-club.



0. A. HAGKBARTH.

GOLF CLUB. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 5. 1913.

Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

I OTTO Gr. A I-IACKBARTH, OF CLARENDON HILLS ILLINOIS.

GOLF-CLUB.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 10, 1914 Application filed December 5, 1913. Serial No. 804,789.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LOTTO G. A. HACK- nAR'rH, a citizen of the United States, resid ing at Clarendon Hills, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have lnvcnted a certain new and useful Improvement 1n Golf-Clubs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to golf clubs, more particularly putters and clubs for short approaches, and the objects of the invent on are: First, to provide a club the flexibility whereof. is confined chiefly to a point ]USl3 beneath the lower end of the shaft proper. Second, to provide a construction in which the lower end of the shaft proper is bifurcated and receives internally the flat shank or stem which forms a connection to the head. of the club. Third, to provide a head the weight whereof is balanced on opposite sides of the central median plane whlch passes longitudinally through the headof the club and the center of the shaft. Fourth, to provide a club having an interchangeable face so that faces of different lofts may be provided. Fifth, to provide a club which may be converted at will into a right hand or a left hand club. Sixth, to

provide a club possessing right lines extend ing longitudinally of the head. of the club and hence atright angles to the line of play. Seventh, to provide a construction free from any projections which might 1nj terfere with the vision of the player.

I obtain my objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a putter embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same on a somewhat increased scale. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the club head and lower portion of the shaft. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4% Fig. 2.

integral with a plate 4. of aluminum or other light metal. Stem 3 is secured to the shaft by fastening devices such as the rivets .7.

These may be of wood or metal as desired.

Plate 4 preferably widens out as it extends downward from the stem, and at the lower end lies betweenand is of the same size and shape as the head blocks 5, G. Said blocks are of metal preferably brass or other noncorrosive metal and are rectangular parallelepipeds except that the sole is rounded slightly at the heel and toe and the front block 5 has a front surface which is lofted or tapered as suggested in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The blocks are preferably of substantlally the same size and weight. As

a result of this preferred construction the.

the blocks which form the head of. the club assist the player in getting propel direction, in making the stroke.

The blocks 5, (3 are preferably secured to plate 4% by screws 8, the heads whereof are countersunk to thereby produce a smooth external surface. .As the blocks are thus removably secured to the plate, front blocks of different weight and loft may be readilv substituted, an advantage which is obvious to both makers and user-5. Different plavmg conditions are best met by using clubs of varyingloft, the smoother and harder the putting green, the less the loft under ordinary circumstances. Putting greens vary in character in different partsof the country and at different seasons of the year and with my club, a player may keep a number of front blocks on hand arid select a block suiting the conditions of the course he intends to play.

. One of the important characteristics of my construction is that a portion of the stem?) extends beyond the lower end of the wooden shaft proper as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The metal of the plate and stem is thin and as a result the head will flex backward at the moment of impact as. shownin dotted lines in Fig. 3. In conseables the player to obtain a given distance This enof roll with a shorter swing of the club and thus the stroke can be played with greater accuracy.

Another advantage of my club is that it does away with the necessity for a hosel or socket as commonly found in the heads of putters and irons. There is no bulge of any kind whatever at the point where the shaft joins the head of the club and hence there is nothing to obstruct the players view to the face of the club. Another advantage, which will be apparent to club makers on account of the resulting economy is that shorter wooden shafts may be utilized. The shaft terminates an appreciable distance above the head of the club and hence shafts may be used which would be too short for clubs of ordinary construction. Another advantage is that the center of gravity of the head of the club is much lower than in clubs of ordinary manufacture. In my construction in which an aluminum or otherlike metal plate and stem are employed there is very little weight except in the blocks themselves. Consequently the center of gravity occurs very low down in the club head and the player can feel more accurately whether he has struck the ball at the proper elevation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A golf club having a shaft, a head and an intermediate connecting portion consisting of a metallic plate of single thickness, the thickness of the plate being perpendicular to the line of play, and the plate being of reduced width adjacent to the lower end of the shaft.

2. A golf club having a shaft bifurcated at its lower end, a head, and a stem connected to said head and entering the bifurcated portion of the shaft, said stem being comparatively thin and flat and a portion of the stem extending a short distance beyond the lower end of the shaft to impart perceptible flexibility to the club at that point.

3. A golf club having a shaft slotted at its lower end, a head, and a stem connected to said head and lying chiefly within the slot in the shaft, said stem being of substantially the same Width as the shaft and extending slightly beyond the end of the shaft, the extending portion being of thin and flat metal for imparting flexibility to the club at that point.

4. A golf club having a shaft, a plate secured to the lower end of said shaft, and head blocks mounted on opposite sides of said plate, said blocks being of approximately the same weight whereby the weight is substantially equally distributed on on, posite sides of the median plane of the club.

5. Agolf club having a shaft, a metallic plate of single thickness secured to the lower end of said shaft, and a metallic block detachably attached to the front of said plate at a point remote from the lower end of the shaft for furnishing considerable weight and a striking surface, the portion of the plate adjacent to the end of the shaft being of reduced width whereby there is a perceptible degree of flexibility between the shaft and the block.

6. A golf club having a shaft bifurcated at its lower end, a plate, a stem integral with said plate and located chiefly within the bifurcated portion of theshaft, a portion of the stem extending beyond the end of the shaft and being of substantially the same width as the shaft, and ablock upon said plate having a face lofted for striking the ball.

7. A golf club having a shaft, said shaft having a slot at its lower end extending completely through the shaft from side to side whereby the lower end of the shaft is bifurcated, a center plate consisting 'of a sheet of aluminum or similar light material, a stem integral with said plateand filling the slot in the shaft, the stem extending a slight distance beyond the end of the shaft to render the club laterally flexible at that point, and head blocks mounted at the lower end of said plate.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

OTTO G. A. HACKBARTH.

lVitnesses: Y

HO\VARD M. Cox, M. S. ROSENZWEIG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents.

' Washington, D. C. 

